Vauxhall Motors Story: January and February 2018

Hello folks and thank you for coming back for another episode of the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! As you might remember the Motormen were top of the Premier League table at the end of December 2017 but the title race was very tight with Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United very close behind us. As for the cup competitions, we were still involved in all of them, qualified for the semi finals of the Carling Cup, first knockout round of the Champions League and third round of the FA Cup. Now let’s see what we did in the first two months of 2018.

The new year began with some insane scheduling from the FA, we were forced to play two games in two days! The first one went well, we produced a solid display against Aston Villa and the score line was narrow just because we conceded an unlucky own goal at 2-0. The game against 19th placed Bolton was a lot more difficult and that was because I had to use an almost totally different eleven since all the players that had faced Villa were obviously tired. I even had to bring in some youngsters from the reserves and that surely showed on the pitch. Bolton took the lead after just two minutes from a penalty kick, then we made it 1-1 at half time but were reduced to 10 men on 50 minutes and then conceded another own goal. Louis Laing beat our own keeper but fortunately he did the same at the other end to make it 2-2 and then Graham Howson scored the winning goal three minutes from time.

Andrew Surman left the club after the Bolton game, he even scored a farewell goal before joining Newcastle on a loan to buy deal possibly worth around 3 million pounds if the buyer will activate the clause. The first big game of the new year was coming up, we were facing defending champions Chelsea. They were having a bad season though, down in 7th place, so I was expecting a win.

Vauxhall vs Chelsea (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Kwabena Quartey, Javier Godoy, Louis Laing, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Tinga, Tiago — Parana, Zé Carlos

Team Talk: You can win today!

The game proved to be much easier that I had expected, we banged in three goals in the opening 17 minutes! First Louis Laing broke the deadlock after seven minutes with a corner kick header and then Zé Carlos bagged a quickfire double, first from the penalty spot and then with a fine effort from inside the area. Chelsea were in big trouble as we were pushing forward relentlessly and Ze Carlos could have scored again on 20 minutes. The goal did come two minutes after the half hour mark when Ze Carlos set up Parana and the striker finally managed to end a painful 16-hour goal drought.

Half time score: 4-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Julian Marino for Quartey, Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco

The second half was equally entertaining, Chelsea managed to create a couple of chances as well, but in the end they had to thank goalkeeper Petr Cech for avoiding a tennis score. We played beautiful football on that day despite the heavy rain that was pouring down on Rivacre Park and we grabbed a well-deserved emphatic win.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Zé Carlos

Flop of the match: Abdallah Yaisien

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Before moving on to the next games I have some transfer activity news: backup right back Kwabena Quartey left the club as Valencia met his minimum fee release close with a 7.5 million pounds bid. I knew about that release clause and I didn’t want to lose this player but unfortunately I was unable to make him sign a new contract. The board didn’t give back too much of that income so I was unable to find a replacement on the transfer market which forced me to promote a youngster from the reserves as a backup, 20-year old Sylvester Ogbonna (click name to see profile).

The next games went quite smoothly as we started with a demolition job of Newcastle in the league, then eased past League 1 side Cardiff in the FA Cup and last but not least grabbed a win against Bolton in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final. That win could have been a lot better though, we enjoyed nearly total domination but Bolton were lucky to survive and score a goal out of two shots on target.

Another big match was coming up after those three easier ones, third placed Tottenham were coming at Rivacre Park, they were four points behind us but with a game in hand.

Vauxhall vs Tottenham (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Javier Godoy, Louis Laing, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Tinga, Tiago — Parana, Zé Carlos

Team Talk: You can win today!

The start of the game was similar to the one we had against Chelsea but with a big difference: we didn’t score this time. Tinga had the first big chance just 64 seconds into the game as his fine effort from inside the penalty area cannoned off the upright and then the Brazilian midfielder tested the crossbar as well with a thunderous shot from 20 yards. Our domination continued until half time but the Tottenham goalie was unbeatable, you all know how good David De Gea can be…

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: You can win today!

Half time substitutions: Denís for Vecera

De Gea continued his show after the break as he denied Parana on a great chance on 48 minutes and Tottenham had the first decent chance 10 minutes later when Dzeko hit the crossbar with a header. Our last big chance fell to Zé Carlos after an awesome team move but there was no way past that unbelievable goalie, he gave Tottenham a precious point in a game that we should have won.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Javier Godoy

Flop of the match: Radek Vecera

Match Stats

The next league game saw us beating Hull quite comfortably with Denís managing to score his first goal for the club. The second leg against Bolton was a quiet affair, we only needed a draw there and we got it even though I chose to rest most of the first team players.

We are going to Wembley for the League Cup final and we are going to meet Manchester United there in March.

The league table was looking pretty well at the end of January, we were still top, tied on 59 points with Manchester City but with a game in hand. We managed to maintain the four-point cushion over Tottenham while Manchester United seemed to drop the pace a bit as they were eight points behind us.

February had three very tough matches in store for us, Tottenham (our game in hand) and Manchester United in the league and also the first leg against Hamburg in the Champions League.

Sounds exciting? Go to the next page to read all about it!

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

February started with another easy FA Cup tie against Championship side Scunthorpe, I sent in backup and reserve players and they produced a pretty good display. We qualified for the next round and the draw wasn’t that easy anymore, we were going to meet Birmingham. The next two league games produced identical scores but entirely different performances: we played very well against Ipswich and could have scored a lot more while we played poorly against West Ham but got lucky with an own goal before yet another corner kick header from Louis Laing.

The big clash against Tottenham was coming up, here’s how the league table was looking before that game.

So, we had two points on Manchester City and no less than seven on Tottenham, a win at White Hart Lane would have kicked the Spurs out of the title race!

Tottenham vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: White Hart Lane

Attendance: 52,850

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Javier Godoy, Louis Laing, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Tinga, Tiago — Parana, Zé Carlos

Team Talk: You can win today!

We started brightly again, Tiago fired in a good shot after three minutes, but De Gea pulled off yet another stunning save (I was beginning to hate this guy!). That flamboyant start faded away though, the following minutes saw an even but rough games, lots of hard tackles from both sides. Set pieces are always important in such even games and unfortunately it was Tottenham who took advantage of such an event as they broke the deadlock on a free kick after 26 minutes. Their good moment continued and we were saved by the post two minutes later but things did get worse for us six minutes before the break when Parana left the pitch after a wild tackle and was replaced by Wellington Paulista.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Ze Carlos

Unfortunately my other striker had picked up a knock too so I decided to replace him at half time. Unfortunately I had no more strikers on the bench but Yaisien can do well upfront given his speed and technique. In fact, substitute Yaisien managed to create two chances right away thanks to his awesome pace but his finishing was not that good, he squandered both chances… I decided to make another change on the hour mark, I sent in Graham Howson for tired Velasco but the choice backfired a minute later as Radek Vecera left the field on a stretcher. We were down to ten men but my lads reacted with great determination and managed to find the equalizer on 67 minutes when Howson played a brilliant pass for Wellington Paulista and the substitute Brazilian striker made no mistake from inside the penalty area. Tottenham tried to capitalize on the numerical advantage but we were defending very well. At least we did until four minutes from time when the Spurs bagged a corner kick goal, I was so frustrated… A terrible evening ended with an own goal during stoppage time, we definitely were totally out of luck on that day.

Full time team talk: Disappointing!

Man of the match: Wellington Paulista

Flop of the match: Julian Marino

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The worst thing is that the game at White Hart Lane filled our sick bay, we had some bad injuries after that game:

Parana — season over, out for between five and six months! (broken leg)

Radek Vecera — out for between three and four weeks

Javier Godoy — out for two weeks

Tottenham were back in the title race with that result but the situation was still in our hands as we remained top of the table.

We had the chance to kick another contender out of the race in the next game though as Manchester United were eight points behind us. They handed us the first defeat of the season in October so you can imagine that I wanted revenge!

Vauxhall vs Manchester United (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Shyamdew Weibolt, Graham Howson, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

I was unable to field my best eleven due to all the injuries and fatigue but I had confidence in the lads. The first half was not that good though, we dominated possession as usual but we couldn’t show more than a few good shots on target while Luis Guilherme had to pull off two great saves to stop Manchester United‘s counter attacks. We also had another injury annoying us, midfielder Weibolt was replaced by Denís.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: You can win today!

Half time substitutions: Hans Larsson for Marino, Abdallah Yaisien for Tiago

We got off to a much better start after the break as it took us only seven minutes to break the deadlock: a good move brought the ball to substitute Yaisien and the Frenchman slotted home from inside the area. That goal literally unleashed my lads and we bagged another three in just eight minutes! First Leandro Velasco rounded off a superb flowing move with a cool finish, then Ibrahima MBow fired home on a counter attack and last but not least Velasco scored a superb goal after an amazing run down the right flank. Manchester United replied with a fine goal nine minutes from time but the three points were ours, we deserved them too! Unfortunately Weibolt was added to the injured list, he was going to be out for 4 weeks.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Graham Howson

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Vauxhall vs Hamburg (Champions League 1st Rnd Leg 1)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Hans Larsson — Abdallah Yaisien, Denís, Tinga, Tiago — Wellington Paulista, Zé Carlos

Team Talk: You can win today!

After the convincing win against Manchester United we faced the first leg of the Champions League clash with great confidence. However, Hamburg have a very good squad with Sergio Araujo upfront plus quite a few amazing Brazilian regens. The Germans had a good early chance but then we dominated the game. Unfortunately our two clear chances were denied by the goalie so it was all square at the break.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: You can win today!

Half time substitutions: Julian Bazzi for Laing, Mark Brown for Tinga, Javier Garcia for Tiago

We continued to press forward after the interval but we were rather uninspired upfront. We got lucky on the hour mark though as we took the lead courtesy of a funny own goal, probably one of the funniest I’ve seen in the game. Our luck didn’t last more than two minutes unfortunately, Hamburg made it all square with a free kick header and then easily held out to clinch a good result. The Germans are the favorites after this result, we have to beat them away if we want to go through.

Full time team talk: Disappointing!

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Tiago

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The last two games of the month added another two disappointments but we played a lot better than we did against Hamburg. First we were held to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup as Birmingham scored an early goal and then we were unable to score more than one despite dominating. Then we had a nightmare league game against Everton, they totally outplayed us for 30 minutes and scored two goals. Then we woke up but wasted 3 chances before half time, missed a penalty after the break and another two glorious chances…

The good news is that we’re still top of the table but that might not be for long as Manchester City are two points behind us with a game in hand.

Our top five has another leader at the end of February, Louis Laing is now our best player if we look at the average rating as he bagged eight goals to help our cause. Zé Carlos is still our top goalscorer with an impressive 26 goals while Mervin Simon continues to be a reliable player. Leandro Velasco is my favorite player though, he scored 7 and provided 17 assists and I have just extended his contract until 2021 with a release clause on 150 million pounds. Unfortunately Parana will be out for the remainder of the season and that’s a big blow especially since he seemed to regain his scoring touch before that horrible injury. With no money to buy a new striker I promoted a youngster from the reserves as a backup striker, another Brazilian called Paulo César (click name to see profile).

March will be crucial for our quest for glory in the cup competitions: we’ll start with the League Cup final, then we’ll replay the FA Cup fifth round match against Birmingham before attempting an upset at Hamburg. The following three league games seem to be fairly easy but the lads have to remain focused and give their best to grab all nine points.

That’s how it was folks, we are still top of the table but injuries seem to be taking their toll. I hope we’ll be able to stay top at the end of March and then see what can be done from there as we will still have a direct clash with Manchester City at Rivacre Park in May. Before wrapping up I’d like to invite you to the forum where Plobdork started a generous thread in which he offers to build custom team kits for you, here’s what he did on my request:

Thanks a lot for reading my friends, feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions in the comments!